h it is Macbeth who sees visions of the dagger, Lady Macbeth falls ill of a mental disorder. It is he who hears the cry in the house: Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep . . . and so Macbeth shall sleep no more; but it is not heard the he slept no more (Williamson 164). While the Queen rises from her bed and talks in her sleep, she betrays her guilt; but, it is Macbeth who stands helpless with bloody hands. When Lady Macbeth comforts him, she ends up being the one who says, Out, damned spot! Out, I say! (V.1.31). Lady Macbeth is eventually driven to the point of madness.Lady Macbeth was under a great deal of pressure, being a powerful and ambitious woman at a time when she would have been criticized and possibly even accused of being in league with the supernatural. Her problem was that she separated male and female characteristics. This separation of herself caused her breakdown. In todays society, it is acceptable for males and females to display qualities that in Lady Macbeths day would be seen as solely masculine or feminine. When Macbeth seized her power (after Duncans murder), she was left alone with her guilt and fears. She committed the evil act because she was a woman, even though she had to sacrifice her womanliness to do it. She was trapped between then, when men did not display feelings and women had no power, and today, when men and women are equal. Lady Macbeth is a powerful character who goes from a rise to power to a fall of mental illness brought on by guilt. She was caught between two time periods, that of the Elizabethan era and modern day....
